Highway Construction and Drainage - IES Previous Year Questions

1. Which of the following items of hill road construction does not help in the prevention of landslides during the monsoon season ?

[IES 1995, IES 2015]

  1. Breast walls
  2. Hair-pin bends
  3. Catch-water drains
  4. Retaining walls
Answer: Option B
Explanation:
  • Breast walls are the walls that are built to prevent the soil on a natural slope embankment from sliding down the slope due to harsh weather effects like landslides, erosion, etc.,
  • A hair-pin bend must be located on a hillside having minimum slope and maximum stability. It must also be safe from viewpoint of landslides and groundwater.
  • Catch water drains are provided parallel to the roadway to intercept and divert the water from the hill slope.
  • Retaining walls are constructed on the valley side of the roadway and also on the cut hillside to prevent landslides towards the roadway.

2. In which one of the following bituminous constructions, compaction by pneumatic roller also is specified ?

[IES 1996]

  1. Bituminous macadam
  2. Bituminous concrete
  3. Surface dressing
  4. Premix carpet
Answer: Option D
Explanation:
  • Bituminous Macadam consists of one or more courses of compacted crushed aggregates premixed with a bituminous binder, laid immediately after mixing.
  • Bituminous concrete is a dense graded premix bituminous mix which is well compacted to form high quality pavement surface course. Smooth wheeled roller, vibratory roller and pneumatic tyred roller are used at different stages of compaction.
  • Surface dressing consists of application of bituminous binder material followed by spreading of aggregate cover and rolling with tandem roller.
  • Premix carpet consists of coarse aggregates of size 12.5 mm & 10 mm premixed with bitumen or tar and are compacted to a thickness of 20 mm to serve as a surface course of the pavement. Compaction is carried out using tandem roller or pneumatic roller.

3.  Assertion (A): Level grades may be used in fill sections for roads in rural areas.

Reason (R): On fill sections in rural areas, crowned pavements and sloping shoulders can take care of surface drainage.

[IES 1997]

  1. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
  2. Both A and R are true but R is not a correct explanation of A.
  3. A is true but R is false. 
  4. A is false but R is true.
Answer: Option A
Explanation:
The main concern in surface drainage is the fast disposal of rain water on road surface. This is achieved by proper geometric design of the road such as
  • Crowned carriageway or side cross fall
  • Sloped shoulders
  • Required longitudinal gradient

4.  A road is passing in cut with impervious strata at a depth of 0.5 m from the subgrade level. To intercept seepage flow, a longitudinal pipe drain in the trench is filled with filler material and clay seal is constructed. What shall be the depth of the trench ?

[IES 1998]

  1. 1.5 m
  2. 1.0 m
  3. 0.5 m
  4. 1.75 m
Answer: Option C
Explanation:
The depth of the trench should be equal to the depth of impervious strata below the subgrade level.

5.  Consider the following statements regarding soil stabilization:

  1. Subgrade should be treated if it has a soaked CBR of 5 or less. 
  2. Sub-base, after treatment should have a plasticity index not less than 5.
  3. Base courses after treatment should have a plasticity index of not more than 2 and a CBR in excess of 100. 

Which of these following statements is/are correct ?

[IES 2001]

  1. 1 and 3
  2. 2 and 3
  3. 1 alone
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Answer: Option A
Explanation:
Sub-base, after treatment should have a plasticity index of 5 or less.

6.  Consider the following stages in the construction of concrete roads: 

  1. Preparing the subgrade and the base course.
  2. Mixing and placing the concrete.
  3. Placing the framework and watering the prepared base.
  4. Curing.
  5. Compaction and floating.

The correct sequence of these stages is:

[IES 2001]

  1. 1, 3, 2, 5, 4
  2. 1, 2, 3, 5, 4
  3. 1, 3, 2, 4, 5
  4. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Answer: Option A
Explanation:
The sequence of steps in the construction of cement concrete pavement slab is
  • Preparation of subgrade and sub-base
  • Placing of forms
  • Batching of material and mixing
  • Transporting and placing of concrete
  • Compaction and finishing
  • Curing of cement concrete

7.  Match List-I (Type of construction) with List-II (% Bitumen content) and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists:

List-I

  1. Bituminous macadam
  2. Dense bituminous macadam 
  3. Bituminous concrete
  4. Bituminous mastic

List-II

  1. 3 – 3.5%
  2. ≮ 4%
  3. 14 – 17%
  4. Min 4.5%

[IES 2002]

Codes: A B C D

  1.  1  2  4  3
  2.  4 3  1   2
  3.  1  3  4  2
  4.  4 2  1   3
Answer: Option A
Explanation:
According to MORTH specifications, bitumen content are as follows:
  • Bituminous macadam with nominal aggregate size of 40 mm - 3.1% to 3.4%
  • Bituminous macadam with nominal aggregate size of 19 mm - 3.3% to 3.5%
  • Dense bituminous macadam with nominal aggregate size of 40 mm - Minimum 4%
  • Dense bituminous macadam with nominal aggregate size of 25 mm - Minimum 4.5%
  • Bituminous concrete with nominal aggregate size of 19 mm - 5% to 6%
  • Bituminous concrete with nominal aggregate size of 13 mm - 5% to 7%
  • Bituminous mastic - 14% to 17%

8.  Match List-I (Road drainage system) with List-II (Location) and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists:

List-I

  1. Vertical sand drains
  2. Causeways and culverts
  3. Scuppers and catch water drains
  4. Inlets and gratings

List-II

  1. Urban road drainage
  2. Hill roads
  3. High embankments in soft soils
  4. Cross drainage in road alignments

[IES 2004]

Codes: A B C D

  1.  1  4  2  3
  2.  3 4  2   1
  3.  1  2  4  3
  4.  3 2  4   1
Answer: Option B
Explanation:
  • The vertical sand drains increase the effective permeability of soil. This results in faster dissipation of excess pore pressure in high embankment in soft soils.
  • Cross drainage structures like culverts, small bridges and causeways are provided for the disposal of surface water from the road side drains.
  • Catch water drains and scuppers are provided along the hill roads to facilitate the drainage of water from hill slopes.
  • The urban road drainage consists of inlets and gratings.

9.  Consider the following statements:

  1. Mastic asphalt is a mixture of hard grade bitumen or blown bitumen, minerals filler and fine aggregates.
  2. % of binder content in the mastic asphalt is 17-20 percent by weight of the aggregates. 

Which of these statements is/are correct ?

[IES 2005]

  1. 2 only
  2. Both 1 and 2
  3. Neither 1 nor 2
  4. 1 only
Answer: Option D
Explanation:
  • Mastic asphalt is a mixture of bitumen, aggregates and filler material such that the mixture is plastic, voidless and impermeable.
  • The binder content in mastic asphalt is 14 - 17% by weight of the aggregates.

10.  Which one of the following is the set of physical requirements of coarse aggregates for construction of WBM roads as per IRC recommendation ?

[IES 2006]

           LAV(%)   AIV(%)   FI(%)

  1.  <50         <30       <15
  2.  <40         <30       <20
  3.  <40         <30       <15
  4.  <50         <40       <15
Answer: Option D
Explanation:
The prescribed values of Los Angeles Abrasion Value (LAV), Aggregate Impact Value (AIV) and Flakiness Index (FI) of coarse aggregates for WBM are
  • <50%, <40% and <15% respectively when used as base course.
  • <40%, <30% and <15% respectively when used as surface course.
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